Amendment XIV
Ratified: July 9, 1868
Summary
Defines citizenship and guarantees equal protection under the law.
Full Text
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
History and Context
If the 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 14th Amendment was meant to secure the freedom of the formerly enslaved. It is arguably the most important amendment after the original Bill of Rights, a 'second founding' of the United States. It was a direct response to the Southern states' 'Black Codes,' which sought to reimpose a system of virtual slavery. The 14th Amendment fundamentally changed the relationship between the federal government, the states, and individual citizens. It established birthright citizenship, overturning the infamous *Dred Scott* decision, and for the first time, it applied the concepts of due process and equal protection directly to the states, giving the federal government the power to protect citizens from their own state governments.